Ann Reinking Interview (April 14, 1983)

Ann Reinking (November 10, 1949 – December 12, 2020) was an American dancer, actress, choreographer, and singer. She worked predominantly in musical theater, starring in Broadway productions such as Coco (1969), Over Here! (1974), Goodtime Charley (1975), Chicago (1977), Dancin' (1978), and Sweet Charity (1986).

Reinking won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for her work in the 1996 revival of Chicago, which she choreographed while reprising the role of Roxie Hart. For the 2000 West End production of Fosse, she won the Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer. She also appeared in the films All That Jazz (1979), Annie (1982), and Micki & Maude (1984).

Early life
Ann Reinking was born on November 10, 1949, in Seattle, the daughter of Frances (née Harrison), a homemaker, and Walter Floyd Reinking, a hydraulic engineer. She grew up in Bellevue.[4] As a child, Reinking began ballet lessons, studying with former Ballets Russes dancers Marian and Illaria Ladre in Seattle.

Reinking made her professional performing debut at the age of 12 in a production of Giselle with the English Royal Ballet.[5] While attending middle school and high school, she studied at the San Francisco Ballet during the summers as a part of a scholarship. After graduating from Bellevue High School, she took summer classes offered by the Joffrey Ballet at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.[6]

Career
Reinking moved to New York City at age 18,[7] and danced as a member of the corps de ballet at the Radio City Music Hall,[8] performed in the ensemble of the second national tour of Fiddler on the Roof, and at the age of 19 made her Broadway debut in the musical Cabaret. She was a chorus dancer in Coco (1969), Wild and Wonderful (1971), and Pippin (1972).[2] During Pippin, she came to the attention of the show's director and choreographer Bob Fosse. Reinking became Fosse's protégée and romantic partner, even as Fosse was still legally married to (though separated from) Gwen Verdon at the time.[9]

In 1974, Reinking came to critical notice in the role of Maggie in Over Here!, winning a Theatre World Award. She starred as Joan of Arc in Goodtime Charley in 1975, receiving Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations for Best Actress in a Musical.[2] In 1976, she replaced Donna McKechnie as Cassie in A Chorus Line; in 1977, she replaced Verdon in the starring role of Roxie Hart in Chicago, a show directed and choreographed by Fosse.[2] In 1978, she appeared in Fosse's revue Dancin', and received another Tony nomination.[10] In that year, Reinking and Fosse ended their romance and separated.[11][12] However, they continued to have a professional, creative collaboration. Fosse's influence on Reinking's work as a choreographer could be seen in her retention of his "dark, jazzlike, fluid body movements."[13] In 1979, Reinking appeared in Fosse's semi-autobiographical film All That Jazz as Katie Jagger, a role loosely based on her own life and relationship with Fosse.[11][14] Reinking appeared in two more feature films, as Grace Farrell in Annie (1982) and as Micki Salinger in Micki & Maude (1984).[15] In a 2019 mini-series aired on FX, Fosse/Verdon, Margaret Qualley portrayed Reinking and her relationship with Fosse.

Personal life
Reinking married four times. She was first married on March 19, 1972, to Broadway actor Larry Small, whom she divorced the same year.[33] Reinking was married to investment banker Herbert Allen Jr. from 1982 to 1989. In 1989, she married businessman James Stuart, with whom she had a son, Christopher, before their divorce in 1991. Reinking married sportswriter Peter Talbert in 1994.[34]

Reinking retired in 2017 and lived in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Reinking's son has Marfan syndrome, and Reinking worked with the Marfan Foundation, which is dedicated to raising awareness of the disease. She produced the 2009 documentary In My Hands: A Story of Marfan Syndrome.[36]

Death
Reinking died in her sleep at a hotel in Seattle, Washington, on December 12, 2020, at the age of 71, while on a visit to her family in the area.[37][1] She is interred at the Paradise Memorial Gardens in Scottsdale, Arizona.[citation needed]

Upon her death, the lobby of the Ambassador Theatre, home of the current revival of Chicago, installed an "In Memoriam" poster of her in costume as Roxie Hart from the 1996 opening cast.[citation needed]

Following her death, students of Reinking's Broadway Theatre Project produced a documentary in her honor called The Joy is in the Work.[38]